A Very Cool Yule

So, now that over a month has passed since Christmas, I figure it's about time that I post some pictures on the blog. To the good fortune of many, I am hoping to focus my time and yours on pictures in lieu of my typical rambling prose. Before proceeding , though, it would be appropriate to say that this Christmas was special as we were able to have Nikole's parents and her youngest brother over. We always enjoy their company, particularly during the Holidays.

As parents, Nikole and I continue to try to teach our kids about the true purpose of Christmas--to celebrate Christ's birth, life, and ultimately his sacrifice for us. This becomes tricky in the face of the the commercialization of Christmas. We are finding it difficult to both indulge our kids' excitement for tearing through wrapped gifts, while reminding them that receiving such presents should not be the focus of our celebration. Currently our balance leans a bit toward indulgence, and we continue to discuss ways to sway that balance in the future...

Here I am being the donkey in the Taggart Community Theatre rendition of The Nativity on Christmas Eve. The role came naturally to me.

Here is a group photo of all the actors in the nativity: Andy was a shepherd, Nate was Joseph, Haley was Mary, and Michael was a sheep.

Michael enjoyed his Thomas train set.

Nate's Santa gift was a K'nex roller coaster

Haley is pleased with her Littlest Pet Shop stuffed animal.

Andy is absorbed in his Leapster. Not pictured is the Nintendo Wii, which has quickly become our family's favorite toy.

Christmas is one of those unique occasions when sibling conflict abates, and brothers and sisters can express their true feelings to each other. Sort of.

I was able to take the day after Christmas off from work, and the weather was nice enough that we could go sledding at one of the big hills in town. It was a lot of fun, and we weren't run over by any snow boarding punks.

Music Man (and Woman)

Here's a picture I took of Haley and Andy listening to some CDs. I don't know how it came about, but the kids were very interested in listening to music on their CD players on Saturday. Andy is actually listening to Nate's player with Nikole's headphones. I think he just likes to push the buttons on the player.

We got a kick out of listening to Haley sing along to the Lilo & Stitch soundrack. She was very enthusiastic when she new the words ("Aloha, a-LO-O-O-ha!") and a bit more hesitant when she didn't ("Mm-mmm-mm-mmmh-AND RAIN!").

Hoop! There it is!

A few weeks ago I went on a binge and purchased a nice basketball hoop for our driveway. It actually was somewhat of a retaliatory purchase. On Memorial day, Nikole had conceded to me that I could purchase a Wii for my birthday. The following Saturday, Nate had a fit because we wouldn't let him watch TV. In some expression of elementary school logic, he refused to go to his soccer game (it was the last game of the season). While my first impulse was to force Nate to go, I thought Nikole would not approve of my forcing him. (Turns out she would have forced him to go). Realizing that this was not a situation that I wanted to introduce something new to distract from physical activity, I put off the Wii purchase, and Nate and I went to Dick's Sports to by a basketball hoop. Surely, I thought, this will entice the kids, primarily Nate, to spend more time outside.

[As an aside, our kids really don't watch a lot of TV. Nikole has done a wonderful job of establishing a calendar of alternating "TV days" and "No TV days". Even on days where TV is allowed, it is limited. Funny, though, that Andy now has his personal calendar by which he identifies the passage of time (TV Day, No TV Day or Church Day).]

It's a nice system, sort of a poor man's Goalrilla. This is literally true as I am a poor man and Goaliath (our system) is a lower-end line produced by Goalrilla. Still, it has the requisite glass backboard, spring-back rim, in-ground pole, adjustable height.

I started setting it up that day and finished the following week while Nikole and the kids were visiting her family in Utah. I was excited to show the kids. They were excited as well, bless there hearts, for almost 10 minutes. I continue to have fun shooting around as I try to remember that it took me a while to really take basketball seriously. Hopefully, the fact that the hoop is there will provide opportunity for their interest to develop. We shall see...